A gyroscope is used to determine rate of rotation around an axis. However, conventional gyroscopes such as resonant fiber optic gyroscopes have limited sensitivity to rotation. Some applications demand higher rotation sensitivity.
Gyroscopes based upon atomic interferometers have higher rotation sensitivity. However, existing gyroscopes based upon atomic interferometers typically do not satisfy size, weight, power and cost (SWAP-C) requirements of many applications. Further, such systems cannot be cost effectively mass manufactured because their performance requires significant adjustment upon construction. Also, such systems' performance is susceptible to environmental factors so that their performance can vary, and thus is not repeatable; hence, such systems do not meet application stability requirements. As a result, current gyroscopes based upon atomic interferometers do not meet the requirements of many modern applications.
Therefore, there is a need for a gyroscope based upon atomic interferometers that will satisfy customer SWAP-C and stability requirements, and which can be cost effectively mass produced.